Attention Aprilaire humidifier owners! First of all, congratulations on making it through a grueling winter. It was cold, snowy and nasty outside, with record-breaking low temperatures and record breaking snowfalls. But thanks to your insight, Aprilaire protected your family and your home from the potential devastation of dry air.
Time to call it a season
With the end of the humidifier season comes a couple of simple tasks to perform. First, be sure you are confident you will no longer require humidification, then follow these easy end-of-season tasks. If you have a bypass-style humidifier, you need to close the bypass damper. Simply turn the handle from the "winter" to the "summer" position. If you have a fan-powered Aprilaire humidifier, no adjustments are required.
Next, if you have an automatic control that is operating in the manual mode, or if you have the Aprilaire manual control, you need to turn the control knob to the "Off" position. This will ensure your humidifier will not turn on during the summer months (when you already have more than enough humidity). If you have an automatic control that is operating in the "Automatic" mode, there is no adjustment required. The outdoor temperature sensor will prevent your humidifier from coming on whenever the outdoor temperature is 60 degrees or higher.
Also, don't forget to call your Aprilaire dealer this fall to perform the annual humidifier maintenance. Your dealer will change your water panel, inspect the water delivery system, and replace any components that are fouled or worn. This indoor air quality (IAQ) expert is trained to keep your Aprilaire humidifier operating at peak performance.
Aprilaire - fresh ideas for indoor air!
It's March 11, 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin. The outside temperature is a seasonal 43 degrees, with an expected high of 53 degrees. Not bad. What is bad is that the relative humidity (RH) is a whopping 93%. Wow! That's what's going on outside. How does that translate into what's going on in your home? Chances are your indoor RH is rapidly rising, leaving you very uncomfortable and putting your home at risk from the dangers of mold, mildew, bacteria, viruses and more. What can you do to eliminate these risks and concerns? Install a whole-house dehumidifier from Aprilaire.
Aprilaire is your whole-house solution
An Aprilaire whole-house dehumidifier works in conjunction with your home’s HVAC system to efficiently remove moisture from every room of your home. Also, unlike portable units that only remove moisture from the room they are sitting in, Aprilaire dehumidifiers have no messy tanks to empty and clean. Aprilaire truly is the best dehumidification solution.
Call your local Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your Aprilaire whole-house dehumidifier. End the suffering; call today.
Aprilaire - protecting you and your family for over 50 years!
My Aprilaire 550 is running every time the furnace comes on and we are not getting an improvement on the low humidity. Our house is about 1200 square feet. Any suggestions? We have installed an energy efficient furnace recently.
Aprilaires' response:
Thank you for contacting us with regards to your model 550 Humidifier. The energy efficient furnace may be running less than the previous model. By limiting the run time of the 550, it's performance over an hour will drop. Is your humidifier fed by hot water or cold water? The 550 will perform better with water temperature as close to 140°F as possible. This will also give you the added benefit of being able to run the humidifier with just your furnace fan. You may need to speak to your contractor to ensure it's properly wired to run with the heat and with the fan, but if it is, you can turn your thermostat's fan switch to the On position, the water provides the heat, and you can get humidity 24 hrs/day or until your desired set point is reached.
Did you suffer from the ill-effects of dry air this winter because you don't have a whole- house humidifier? Did you have dry, itchy skin or get jolted by static shocks? Did the woodwork in your home shrink and crack? One more question; do you have a tax return coming this year?
Spend your tax return wisely
If you're tired of suffering every winter and you have a tax return coming your way, suffer no longer. Aprilaire is the industry leader in residential indoor air quality (IAQ). Not only do we have products that ensure proper levels of relative humidity (RH) throughout your entire home, we offer the best in whole-house air cleaners, thermostats, ventilation, and zoning. Aprilaire is also viewed as the best IAQ value in the industry. So much so that after you've paid for your Aprilaire humidifier, you'll probably have enough tax return dollars left over to buy that techno-gadget you've had your eye on.
Call your local Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your whole-house humidifier today. Getting your Aprilaire whole-house humidifier installed now will give you peace of mind going into next year’s heating season.
Aprilaire - protecting you and your family, and providing peace of mind, for over 50 years!
Is it possible to upgrade the efficiency of the pre-filter from the current MERV-8?
Aprilaires' Response:
Thank you for contacting us with regards to our Model 1750 Dehumidifier. We do not offer a high-efficiency filter for this model other than the supplied MERV 8. However, if this unit were attached to your HVAC system and its intake positioned downstream of your HVAC filter, that could potentially have a higher efficiency than MERV 8. In that situation, the internal filter would not be needed as all air it uses would be pulled through your HVAC filter. For example, our Aprilaire whole-home air cleaners begin at MERV 10 and go higher from there. The two could work together to give the 1750 cleaner air than the dehumidifier could create on its own.
We appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.
I have the same issue. I installed 600A last week. For some reason, the humidifier does not increase the RH above 30% even on the highest setting (7). Our home is 40 years old and only 1500 sq ft. It was installed for automatic operation with the outside air sensor. Any comment to fix this problem
Aprilaires' Response:
One of the most common reason for lack of humidity is lack of humidifier run time do to lack of runtime of the furnace. Another reason is the homes ability to hold the moisture. No matter how well a house is built it breaths. As air escapes from the house so does the humidity. The older a home gets the leaker it gets. So the trick is adding the humidity faster than it is escaping. In most homes the humidifier gets enough run time, but older leaky homes or new homes that are so well insulated that the furnace hardly runs, you will need to extend the humidifiers run time.
If the Model 600 humidifier runs every time the furnace comes on, runs whole time the furnace is on, and gets forced to turn off when the furnace goes off, it is added as much humidity as the furnace is allowing it to. If the humidifier could run longer it would. So if the humidifier is wired to run with the furnace fan, connected to hot water (140 Max), and if you run your furnace fan continually, the humidifier can add up to 16 gallons of water to the air per day.
Some people don't want to run their fan continuously, so another option would be to use the Aprilaire 4851 Blower Activation Relay. This relay will turn on the furnace fan and let the humidifier run as many hours a day as it need to without the fan running continuously.
Do you remember last spring when all the snow was finally melted and it got warm enough
outside to go without a jacket? Do you also remember that it wasn't warm enough to turn on the air conditioning, but you still felt uncomfortable? This happens every spring due to the high levels of relative humidity (RH). The phrase "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" is all too true. High RH levels can make it feel like it's 5 to 10 degrees warmer than it actually is. One way to combat this is to turn on your air conditioner, as moisture removal is a natural byproduct of air conditioning. But in order to remove the excess moisture, you need to cool the air to a level that makes you too cold. 
Aprilaire to the rescue
A whole-house dehumidifier from Aprilaire works in conjunction with your home’s HVAC system to remove excess moisture from every room of your home. Unlike air conditioning that is designed primarily to cool your home, Aprilaire removes moisture when AC is not required, efficiently removing moisture and providing the comfort you deserve. Maintenance is a breeze with Aprilaire as well. Unlike portable dehumidifiers that require you to empty and clean a tank on a daily basis, Aprilaire dehumidifiers only require an annual filter cleaning. Hassle free convenience and comfort; that's what Aprilaire is all about.
Contact your Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your whole-house dehumidifier today and avoid all the discomforts you felt last year. Your family will thank you for it.
Aprilaire - fresh ideas for indoor air.
I am having a similar problem. I just installed a 600A humidifier and the control is set at 7. The 600A humidistat says that the air is at 42% RH, but I have two other humidity meters in the living area that read 33%. Does the 600A humidistat need calibration?
Aprilaires' Response:
Thank you for contacting us with regards to your model 600A Humidifier. The humidistat for this unit does not require calibration. It does, however, only update its display when it detects activity in the furnace, typically the heating mode. If the display constantly shows 42%, regardless of humidity changes in the home, the control may not be wired correctly. If the control does change its display, but stays around 9% apart from the other gauge, then the issue is just a discrepancy between devices. Most gauges will be accurate within 5% to 10% of actual humidity. With the humidity reading at 42% on the humidistat and the control setting at 7, we would expect that the humidifier will be running with each heat cycle of your furnace as long as outdoor temperature is 20°F or higher. If this unit is operating in the manual mode, it should run under these same conditions regardless of outdoor temperature.
I installed a 600A 2 weeks ago in my house. The unit runs for the entire heat call from my thermostat, but my house is having trouble maintaining even 30% humidity. It did raise the RH from around 15% to 30%, but I believe it is trying to go to around 40%. I think I need to increase runtime to get more humidity. I plumbed it to hot water. The way it is currently wired, the R and C are continuously powered and W/G and Cf are tied to the thermostat connection when the thermostat calls for heat. If I were to wire R, C, W/G, and Cf all to constant 24v and then the H outputs to the C and blower terminal on my thermostat connection on my furnace would this cause the humidistat to turn on the blower when more humidity is required? Would this cause a problem with my furnace?
Aprilaires' response:
The way that you describe the current wiring for your humidistat is correct. Please do not change it.
What you are describing below not only will disconnect communication to the humidifier itself, but will damage both the furnace and humidistat controller.
The humidifier will only create the amount of humidity selected on the controller. If you have it set for 30%, then that is the goal it will aim to satisfy. It will not continue to humidify past the selected level.
If you would like to achieve more than 30% humidity, simply select a higher setting. If 30% seems right for your home, you may leave it there.
It's not too late! You don't have to suffer the agonizing effects of dry air any longer. Are you tired of dry, cracked skin? Scratchy throat? Static electricity? Why have you been suffering when you could alleviate all of these problems and more by having an Aprilaire whole-house humidifier installed?
Whole-house is the key
Dry air is abundant throughout your entire home in the winter months when your heating system is operating. This dry air wreaks havoc on both your health and your home and possessions. Unlike portable units that humidify one room at a time, a whole-house humidifier from Aprilaire works in conjunction with your home's HVAC system to provide soothing moisture to every room in your home. Maintenance is a breeze with Aprilaire as well, with no cumbersome tanks to fill every day (what a hassle).
Contact your Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your Aprilaire whole-house humidifier today. It's not too late to enjoy all the benefits that properly humidified air can bring to you and your family.
Aprilaire - fresh ideas for indoor air.
I won't do that. Even our Model 5000, the best whole house particulate removal product, will not deter the harmful affects of 2nd hand smoke. It WILL help clean your air of all kinds of nasty stuff; virus-sized particles, allergens and other contaminants.
It's best just to properly ventilate, or maybe just don't smoke in the house. Go outside with the other 2nd class citizens!
I have what I was told is an April Air (looks like the 700) that came as part of my high end Carrier central AC/heating system a few years ago. We had an Aprilair before and like this one, but, it's humidity is tied to the heating /AC and the wood in the house (and one guitar) are suffering from it being too dry in here. Everything is set right (humidity maxed out on the thermostat), I hear it go on all the time, and it works right, but we don't have your digital controls to get it up to about 50%. How can I upgrade your system to get more humid air? Luckily Fender fixed my guitar but I was told dry air caused the damage and it has never left this house and a new hygrometer puts the humidity at less then 40%. If I need a new and better AprilAir fine. If this one can be upgraded, that is even better.
Thank you
Aprilaires' response:
Thank you for contacting us regarding the Aprilaire product line. We are happy to assist you with questions relating to the operation and performance of your humidifier. Our humidifiers are designed to provide and control up to 45% relative humidity. Our humidistat controls will only allow the humidifier to provide 45% humidity into the home before it will no longer initiate a call for humidity. If you are trying to maintain more than 45% humidity in the home, we would recommend working through your heating and cooling contractor for a 3rd party control that has a higher limit in regards to humidity control.
In order to get optimum levels of humidification within the home, we would recommend utilizing the humidifier with hot water as the water source, and also to allow the humidifier to operate with the fan operation of the heating system. By utilizing the humidifier with hot water as the water source this will help increase the evaporative capacity for the model 700. You will also get optimum use of the model 700 by wiring this unit to operate in conjunction with the fan for the heating application. What this allows you to do is to humidify the home essentially 24 hours a day. Basically, when putting the fan to the on mode you will be able to provide humidity into the home even though the actual heating system is not actually producing heat at the time. The heat from the water will provide the heat that is needed in the evaporation process. By utilizing the application with hot water and fan operation you will be optimizing the performance of our product and be providing a higher level of comfort within the home.
We would be happy to further assist you with any questions relating to the operation and performance of your humidifier. If there are any further questions regarding your application, please contact us at your earliest convenience.
I have a two story house with a model 500 on the second floor and one also on the first floor. second floor is 2,000 feet and first is 3,000 feet. My humidity level on the first floor is 31%...what is wrong...I have it set at 45%.
Aprilaires' response:
Your Aprilaire Model 500 humidifier is designed to operate any time your HVAC furnace is operating. If your furnace is not operating your humidifier can not operate. As a result even though you have your control set to 45% the humidifier can not run unless the furnace is producing heat. We also design all our humidifiers to maintain an indoor relative humidity of 35% whenever the outdoor temperature is 20F or above. Some homes may be able to maintain more than 35% but not every home will be able to.
In addition if you did not have a humidifier prior to January 2010, it will take some time for the humidity level to increase in your home. Prior to the humidity staying in the air, all the wood and furnishings will soak up the humidity.
What are the main differences between the #56 and #58 humidistat? If I want
to use a 6504 zone controller with a #58 humidistat how would I wire it
since there is no + & - terminals? Will the 6504 only work with the #56
humidistat? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Aprilaires' Response:
The Model 56 and 58 humidistats both work the same way. They are both automatic humidistats that use an outdoor sensor to automatically adjust the indoor humidity level as the outdoor temperature changes. A couple of years ago we added the digital display, a "call dealer for service light", and a "humidifier on" light. These three things are the main differences between the two humidistats.
If you have a 6504 zone controller you would need to use the Model 56. The 6504 firmware hasn't been upgraded to recognize the Model 58.
I hope this answers your questions. Please let us know if you need anything else.
Question submitted to Aprilaire:
The humidifier is installed such that when the humidistat calls for humidity, it turns on the furnace blower, even though the furnace is not calling for heat. As a result, during dry weather, the furnace blower runs almost continuously in response to the humidifier. This results in cool air coming from the vents, except when the furnace is on. Since we keep the temperature low, this is most of the time. Is this the correct setup, or should the humidifier only run when the furnace is calling for heat? Hope this explanation is clear....thanks
Aprilaires' Response:
Thank you for contacting us with regards to our Model 600 Humidifier. The behavior you describe indicates that your unit was installed using a Blower Activation Relay. This relay allows the humidifier to activate the furnace fan whenever humidity is low. For this to work properly, the humidifier should also be fed by hot water, up to 140°F. All of this is not to say that your installation was correct or incorrect, but this is one set-up option to provide you with the most humidifier run time. If you would prefer that it run only with your heat, you can speak to your contractor about that option as well. Keep in mind that this may mean that with less humidifier run time, the humidity will not rise as quickly in your home. Once your home reaches the set point on your humidistat, the humidifier should turn off. It would only turn on as much as is needed to maintain that level.
Last season, the humidifier worked great, no problems. This season, the water just runs through the water panel without distributing out and wicking throughout the whole panel. I've replaced the panel, replaced the distribution tray and still the same thing. Is there something else that can be done? Please advise.
Aprilaires' Response:
The way the humidifier works is; when the furnace comes on, the humidistat calls for humidity and the humidifier turns on. The water solenoid valve opens, water comes up the plastic feed tube and falls into the water distribution tray. Then if the humidifier is level the water will fill up in the distribution tray and will go down the six holes in the tray equally. Then water goes down through the center of the water panel and any water that wasn't evaporated goes down the drain.
The water panels are made out of multiple sheets of slit and expand aluminum. The slits in the aluminum are angled to funnel the water to the center of the water panel. So the water panel should be wet in the center and almost dry on the outside layers.
If you have lack of humidity you may need to increase the humidifiers runtime. The most common reason for lack of humidity is lack of run time. If the humidifier runs every time the furnace comes on, runs whole time the furnace is on, and gets forced to turn off when the furnace goes off, it is added as much humidity as the furnace is allowing it to. If the humidifier could run longer it would. So if the humidifier is wired to run with the furnace fan, and if the humidifier is connected to hot water (140 Max) it can add up to 18 gallons of water to the air per day. You can turn your furnace fan on at the thermostat, let run your furnace fan continually and let the humidifier run as many hours a day as it needs to.
I hope this helps, please let us know if you or your HVAC contractor need any other assistance.
Outside temperature sensor was not installed because the required wiring was not installed. Will 600A unit still operate correctly? What do I need to do because the sensor is not installed?
For normal operation in Winter?
For shut off in Summer?
Response from Aprilaire:
Your 600 should be operating in manual mode. To know this there should be a blue "Manual Mode" clip hanging below the humidistat. When in manual mode, the unit will operate to the setting it is set at until changed. There is a reference guide to show what humidity should be present at a certain temp.. (you will want to look at pages 6-7)
Please review the guide as it will be helpful. When you use the manual mode, all adjustments will be done by you. If you ever decide to change it to automatic mode, the sensor adjusts the indoor humidity in accordance to the outside temperature.
In the summer, simply turn the damper to the "summer" position on the unit to close off air flow.
HRV or ERV and why?
Aprilaires' Response:
Aprilaire believes that ERV's are a better choice than HRV's.
HRV's only transfer heat energy so in the winter the moisture in the air that is exiting your house will all go outside. This can dry out your house too much. In the summer the moisture in the air that is entering your house can over humidify house. Too much humidity can cause mold and other problems.
ERV's transfer heat energy and moisture. In the winter 77% of the heat energy and 50% of the moisture from the air that is exiting the house will be transferred back into the house. In the summer 77% of the heat energy and 50% of the moisture from the air that is entering the house will be transferred back outside. This allows the ERV to run year around with out drying it out or over humidifying.
This unit was installed and worked great for two years. Then I turned it off in the summer and forgot to turn it back on for the last two years. Now, I changed the filter and cleaned everything out. However, it doesn't seem to work. The humidity in my house is 10.
I hear the water turn on for a few minutes at the beginning of the heat cycle. Then it turns off. When I look at the filter, it is only wet at the bottom 1 inch. The rest is dry. The water seems to go into the first float chamber, but doesn't go into the second chamber. I don't see what is preventing the water from moving over.
I had the technician, who installed it, come and look at it. He suggested changing the filter and isn't sure what is wrong. He hasn't been doing this humidifiers for a while. He thought that it might be the water level sensor assembly. However, no one seems to have this part in stock. I will have to order it and get it installed. Then, I might find out that is not what is wrong, and I will have paid more money to have the wrong thing fixed. I already spent $85 for the technician and $45 for the filters. I really want to get it fixed. Can you make some recommendations?
Aprilaires' Response:
Thank you for contacting us with regards to your model 400 Humidifier. Based on the information you provided, the humidifier is working properly. The water should fill from the top, trickle down across the water panel. Verify that you are using a Genuine Aprilaire Stock #45 Water Panel. The water will only raise the float in the right-hand chamber. The left float is an emergency overflow. Water should not fill that chamber unless the first fails to shut off the water. The fact that the water does shut off indicates that the sensor is working properly. The water panel should then wick water up from the reservoir and it will evaporate as it rises.
Water shouldn't rise very far before it evaporates, but most of the water will rise up through the center of the pad, as opposed to the outer layer of material. As long as the humidifier refills at the beginning of, or during, each heat cycle, the humidifier is working. For a test of how well it's working, please do an Evaporative Test. This can be done using a measuring container and a timer.
The evaporative rate of the Model 400 is based entirely on the temperature of the heated air and the amount of run time of your furnace. The performance values are based on 120°F air and 50% run time. This should give 0.70 gal/hr.
It's not clear from the information you provided how long the humidifier has been running with your home at 10% RH. Did it start at 10% and it hasn't changed, or was it higher and has since fallen, or was it lower and has since risen? Humidity can take a while to change, so we would look at the trend of the humidity over time, if it's going up, down, or staying the same. At this time, it doesn't make sense to replace the water level sensor from a troubleshooting standpoint.
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